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YOUR COMMUNITY NEWS • AUG/SEP 2016 PAGE
LOCAL INDIGENOUS ROWERS
TAKE ON THE RIVERLAND
PADDLING MARATHON
It’s one of the toughest paddling marathons in Australia, and
every June long weekend, paddlers from all over the country
gather on the Murray River in South Australia’s beautiful
Riverland to battle bitterly cold winds as they make their
way down the river.
This year a group of Indigenous men from the City of
Port Adelaide Enfield took on the 100km challenge of the
Riverland Paddling Marathon, a three day adventure that takes
participants from Loxton to Morgan. Phil Allen, Fred Tanner,
Ian James and Phil Graham were joined by Michael Arthur and
Peter Carr from the Adelaide Outrigger Canoe Club took to
the water to share the love (and the pain!) together.
The canoe was beautifully hand-painted in traditional Aboriginal
designs by Phil Allen, to tell the story of the team’s journey
from their first meeting through to the race itself.
Phil Allen said,“It’s all about getting out and being active.
We wanted to send healthy messages to communities that
we visit on our journey to encourage them to look after
themselves whilst getting out and getting active.”
As part of their journey, the team took every opportunity to
promote Aboriginal men’s health.
In the evenings, they relaxed with other competitors by playing
the didgeridoo in camp.This drew plenty of attention from
locals who came to learn about the different sounds and
stories behind them - with a health twist.
To prepare for their adventure, the team trained by travelling
25km, two nights a week for six months around Outer Harbor,
Garden Island and local areas.
If you would like to join the Adelaide Outrigger Canoe Club,
they train every Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm and every
Saturday and Sunday at 8am. For more information contact
Dianne on 0402 058 623.
COMMUNITY
A City that supports
commu nity wellbei ng
Adelaide Outrigger Canoe Club